With the advent of increasingly sophisticated telecommunication systems, consumers are increasingly offered a wider array of features and options for telecommunication services. For example, in a feature typically referred to as caller identification ("ID"), the telephone number of the calling party (also referred to as the "A party") may be displayed on a telephone or other device to the called party (also referred to as the "B party"). In these circumstances, the telephone number displayed generally has not been modified or manipulated; rather, the calling party telephone number is displayed in a form exactly as transmitted by the originating switching center. In other circumstances, where the originating switching center does not transmit sufficient caller identification information, a calling party telephone number may not be displayed at all.
In the prior art, because the calling party telephone number is displayed exactly as transmitted by the originating switching center, or may not be displayed at all, other advanced telecommunication features may be unavailable. For example, such systems do not include a digit "1" as a prefix for a telephone number for a different area code. Accordingly, without manipulation of the transmitted calling party number, a feature such as an automatic dial back (or automatic call return) may be rendered nonfunctional; without the addition of digit "1" as a dialing prefix, an automatic call return of the calling party number as displayed may not work to place the returned call.
As a consequence, a need remains to provide calling party telephone number determination and manipulation. Such provision of a manipulated calling party telephone number should be automatic, and should enable the automatic use of other advanced telecommunication features, such as automatic call return and automatic storage of telephone numbers. In addition, such provision of a manipulated calling party telephone number should be user transparent and user friendly, should be available in both wireline and wireless communication systems, and should allow implementation across different international telecommunication systems.